Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, February 23, 2018

Article Excerpt

TRANSCANADA CORP., $58.25, Toronto symbol TRP, operates a 91,500-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Other operations include 4,800 kilometers of crude oil pipelines and 12 power plants. Starting with the April 2018, TransCanada will raise its quarterly dividend by 10.4%, to $0.69 a share from $0.625. The new annual rate of $2.76 yields a high 4.7%. Meantime, the company continues to benefit from its $13 billion U.S. acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group in July 2016. That Texas-based firm operates natural gas pipelines in the U.S. Northeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions; it also operates underground gas storage terminals. If you exclude costs related to the Columbia purchase and other unusual items, TransCanada’s overall earnings in the three months ended December 31, 2017, rose 14.9%, to $719 million from $626 million a year earlier. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 9.3%, to $0.82 from $0.76. That beat the consensus estimate of…